It is particularly important that so-called soft contact lenses be kept sterile, because they tend to cause infections in the eye if they are not periodically disinfected.
A lens disinfection unit has been developed which avoids past methods of disinfecting such lenses which involved such cumbersome steps as boiling them for a predetermined length of time, or alternatively immersing them in a disinfecting solution, particularly hydrogen peroxide solutions, removing them from the solution, and immersing them again in a neutralizing solution or a rinsing solution. The newly developed lens disinfection unit also avoids such difficulties as the user forgetting whether a disinfecting solution and a neutralizing or rinsing solution, all of which are simple clear solutions, has been used, particularly where the lenses are immersed in the disinfecting solution and left standing for a period of time, during which the user forgets whether the lenses have been neutralized or rinsed. Needless to say, it is extremely dangerous to insert into the eye a contact lens which has been removed directly from a hydrogen peroxide disinfecting solution, since such a disinfecting solution is highly irritating to the eye.
Such newly developed contact lens disinfection unit has a container with a cap detachably mounted thereon, and a lens and catalyst block holder mounted on and depending from the cap and extending into the container when the cap is mounted on the container. The holder has lens receiving baskets therein for receiving a pair of contact lenses for holding the contact lenses with the surfaces thereof exposed to the space around the holder, and means is provided for holding a catalyst block on the holder in a position for circulation of a disinfecting solution from the space around the holder and over the lenses in the baskets and over the catalyst block.
However, this lens disinfection unit can be cumbersome to use because while the insertion of the lenses, which are quite small, into the baskets can be relatively easy, removal from the baskets can be very difficult.
There is a need for a lens disinfection unit which has lens holding means which is easy to use and from which it is particularly easy to remove the lenses.